Just a Cold
by Qwi-Xux
Summary: For an airbender, a cold could be more complicated than usual. Aang/Katara, one-shot


**A/N: This is not a new story. **Once upon a time, I had a series of some Avatar one-shots posted in one file as part of a prompt set for a community on LiveJournal. I dropped my prompt claim, so I removed it from my fanfiction account. However, I have some one-shots from that collection that I'd like to keep on my account, so I'm just going to post a few of them as standalones and not as part of a prompt set.

**Disclaimer: **Avatar: TLA is not mine. Aang bending in his sleep, and Aang's reaction to colds, was first seen in the official Avatar comics. I'm just expanding on it.

**Originally written July 2009**

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Katara was sleeping peacefully against Aang when a great shuddering jolted her awake. She found herself on the edge of the bed, clutching the sheets to keep from falling off and looking around wildly. Aang was sitting up, and her first thought was to wonder if he was bending in his sleep again. He didn't do it very often, but it was always an adventure when he did.

But Aang was awake, sniffling and rubbing a hand across his eyes. As Katara got her bearings, she realized that the small room was a mess. The flowers and decorations placed on the table across from the bed were all over the floor, a glass vase broken.

Aang took another breath, and Katara recognized what the hitching noise meant. She threw herself over on top of Aang, holding him to the bed just as he sneezed. The force of it shoved him into her and knocked her back into the headboard, but at least Aang didn't go slamming into the thatched roof.

"Katara! Are you okay?" Aang reached out and pulled her back up. She knew as soon as his hot, sweaty hands touched hers that he was sick. His eyes were shining with fever and his nose was stuffy-she could hear it in his voice.

A sick Aang could be even more harrowing than an Aang bending in his sleep. The first time she had experienced him with a cold had been just after she and Sokka met him, when his sneezing had created such huge gusts of wind that it threw up a "here I am" flag to nearby Fire Nation patrols.

The second time had been after the war, when he'd started sneezing during a meeting with some very important political parties. Ink, papers, and anything not attached to the ground had been stirred, destroyed, or blown into walls or ceilings.

There had been a few other instances while in the South Pole, and it was always easier to handle at home, in a familiar setting. This time, though, they were passing through a small Earth Kingdom village. Some of the locals had been kind enough-_eager_ might have been a better way of putting it-to offer hospitality to the Avatar and his lady.

"Aang, you're burning up." Katara's cool fingers brushed his forehead.

Aang looked across the room at the mess he'd made, and his face fell. "Oh, no."

Katara pushed him back onto the bed as he tried to get up to clean. "I'll get it, Aang. Don't move."

"Katara, I can…" Another hitch in his voice was all the warning Katara had before another exploding sneeze that sent her nightdress billowing around her.

Katara hurriedly bended the water from the broken vase up off the floor, transferring it into one of her water pouches. She cleaned up the broken glass, flowers, and knick-knacks and scanned the room for anything else that could be in danger from Aang's cold. She moved everything that could be damaged into a far corner of the room and then crawled back into bed beside Aang, resting one hand on his cheek.

"Sorry," he mumbled, turning his face into her hand and sighing.

"I'm sorry you don't feel well. If you're aching, I can help with my healing, but you know I can't cure colds. I'll see if there's anything I can use to make a paste for you."

"Ugh."

"It usually helps, doesn't it?" Katara asked pointedly.

"Yes, but it usually _stinks_."

"Well, you're not going to be able to travel until you're better."

"Katara, I have to. I'm expected in Gaoling tomorrow and I have to be in Ba Sing Se the next day and-" He paused, his face scrunching up.

Katara held him tightly as he sneezed again, her body tensing against his, fists clutching the sheets and anchoring them in place. "I'm going to see about that paste _now_," she said.

"It's the middle of the night, Katara," Aang mumbled into her neck. "And it's just a cold."

"I'm not going to be able to sleep with you sneezing, and neither are you." There was a gentle knock on their bedroom door and Katara added, "And I don't think our hosts will rest much, either." She slid out of bed, going to the door and opening it. Ji Yong, the middle-aged woman whose home they were staying in, was looking at her with concern.

"Lady Katara, is everything…" She trailed off as Aang sneezed yet again, her eyes widening as she watched as Aang was propelled into the air. The windows rattled and Katara and Ji Yong's hair stirred in the blast of wind.

Katara cleared her throat. "I don't suppose you have anything for colds?"

Ji Yong's surprise turned to understanding and sympathy. "I have a paste for just such a thing. I'll fetch it for you." She hurried off and quickly returned with a jar. In a low voice, she asked, "Are all of the Avatar's colds so…forceful?"

"Part of being an airbender," Katara said dryly. "I'm afraid one of your vases got broken, but we'll do whatever we can to replace or pay for it."

Ji Yong was already shaking her head. "No need, Lady Katara. It's quite all right. Besides, it will give me quite an interesting story to tell." Her eyes crinkled in a smile. "Please let me know if you need anything else."

"Thank you." Katara quietly shut the door as Ji Yong walked back to her room. She opened the jar of paste as she sat back down beside Aang. He looked miserable and was doing his best_ not_ to look miserable as she dipped her fingers into the paste and began to smear it on his chest.

"At least it smells better than your blubber-berry paste," he muttered.

"Hopefully it will help keep you from sneezing so much. I don't need to go ask Ji Yong for rope to tie you down to the bed, do I?" Katara teased, recalling how she and Sokka had had to resort to that the first time Aang got sick.

Aang's eyes lightened and he looked at her slyly. "Not unless you want to use the rope for other things."

He ruined his dubious attempt at a pick-up line by coughing. It sounded awful, but at least it wasn't accompanied by huge blasts of air. He groaned.

"Your head hurts, doesn't it?" Katara asked. "You're doing that funny squint you only do when you have a headache." Even before she finished her question, she had her water out, glowing around her hands. She brought the water to his head to at least ease his headache.

"Thank you," he said once she had finished. "I'll be fine, Katara. You'll see. A couple of hours of sleep and I'll be ready to head out." His eyes were already closing.

"Mm," she replied noncommittally. She watched him closely, ready to pin him down again should he sneeze, but he fell asleep without so much as another stirring of wind. She kissed his temple. "I love you. Sleep well."

As she lay back down beside him, it crossed her mind, not for the first time, what it would be like if they ever had kids who were airbenders. It was hard enough taking care of _one _who was sick. She couldn't imagine what the air temples had been like when a cold was going around.

Aang rolled toward her in his sleep, pressing up against her. His heat seeped into her skin and she kicked off her covers. A sleepy smile crossed her face as he mumbled something incoherent. She snuggled closer to him and whispered, "No firebending in your sleep, okay?"


End file.
